Strange Bedfellows

Poetry and Politics would

not normally be something

you see together, unless it’s on

a button or bumper.  

Like Ike,

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,

All the way with LBJ,

and my personal favorite,

“Let Well Enough Alone" – 1900 U.S. presidential slogan of William McKinley

I’m not kidding, that last one

is totally real.

Yet, there is poetry to politics.

It takes a deft hand and skillful

mind to craft sentences that are

both true and un-true at the same time.

Like any art form, politics,

is in the eye of the beholder. A poem

about a President written in fecal matter can be

startling, insightful and offensive all at once.

You may think it vile, but it’s

hard to ignore the impact it may have had

on you. You may love it and think it’s a

brilliant statement, also affecting your life.

The difference I think with poetry and politics

is I can describe a vagina with flowery language,

maybe quote Hemingway, throw a bird on it,

and no one’s life is radically changed.

Politics however are all about the words,

words with consequences. Words that have

weight. As a poet, I’m not trying to change to world,

I’m just writing about my place in it.

If I like, I can be somewhat irresponsible with what

I type. I’m not running for any public office.

I can be crass or noble without much consequence.

It doesn’t, really, matter.

Although I do feel a certain

onus to be entertaining, or at

least mildly thought provoking,

That’s my deal.

A politician however, a poet of

the public will, must restrain their

urges to sully, muddy or stupefy.

It’s a bigger deal.

I’ve always thought poetry,

should serve to elevate the senses

in some way, be eye opening and

thought provoking.

Politics should aspire to do the

same thing. Then the Poetry of

Politics might not seem like such

strange bedfellows.